The most recent styling trends in tufted carpet involve color printing of the carpet pile on a greige background or on a single predyed background color. Silk screening techniques are commonly employed to produce a variety of repetitive printed color patterns on carpeting and other pile fabrics. Ever-changing public tastes and demands for color patterns which are away from the ordinary have led to efforts in the industry to produce unusual and varying non-repetitive random color patterns in pile carpeting by certain dye splattering techniques sometimes called tak dyeing.
Prior art machines are known for splattering dyeing of carpet pile to produce varying and non-monotonous designs in one or more colors. However, the machines and techniques employed have not been satisfactory in that the resulting splatter dyed carpet pile tends to have a spotted appearance resembling the results of spilling colored liquids, such as coffee, on a light background pile carpet. The color patterns are harsh and abruptly changing and lack a desirable soft blending of shades between the pale base color and the more concentrated randomly spaced and variously shaped color application areas.
The objective of this invention is, therefore, to overcome these defects of the prior art in terms of splatter dyeing of carpet pile by effecting some relatively minor but extremely important changes in the existing apparatus for this purpose. As a result of the apparatus changes which constitute the subject matter of this invention, certain existing prior art dyeing machines which cost several millions of dollars each, and which have been relatively useless to the industry, are now rendered extremely useful and practical in that they will unfailingly produce acceptable and highly ornate, attractive splatter dyed or randomly dyed carpet or similar pile fabric which heretofore could not be produced on a commerical basis. By means of the invention, variously and randomly colored tufted carpet patterns are made available and the color patterns are substantially endlessly variable and have the appearance qualities which the industry has been seeking in terms of soft or gentle color shade variations and the complete absence of a harsh spotted appearance.
The invention also allows many efficient components of existing machines to be employed without change with obvious economic benefit.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.